But I don't want to

Anyone who has ever been in any sort of relationship knows that forgiveness is essential to the health of a relationship. 

I've noticed there are two things that keep us from forgiving others. 

First, we don't know how to forgive.

Second, we don't want to forgive.

I can help you if you don't know how to forgive. It's not easy, but it is a pretty simple process of canceling the debt that someone owes you. 

If you just don't want to forgive, well, I can't help you. 

But I will remind you of a few things Scripture says to those of us who are Christians about forgiveness. 

We are commanded to forgive. Colossians 3:13 says: 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Meaning, if you refuse to forgive you are being disobedient. 

Jesus warns us about not wanting to forgive in Matthew 6: 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Maybe that will motivate you to develop the habit of forgiveness. It sure motivates me.

One more thing: Refusing to forgive ends up hurting the one who refuses to forgive more than it hurts anybody else. Why would you do that to yourself? 

May God grant you favor as you develop the habit of forgiveness. 

The difference between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea

One of the burdens I've been feeling lately has to do getting every person at Hub City serving somehow, somewhere for the Kingdom. This could mean serving on Sunday as a part of our worship gathering. We have all kinds of serving opportunities. It could also mean serving somewhere outside of the Sunday morning gathering. There are more ways to serve than on Sundays.

There are a few reasons this is so important to me.

Reason #1: We are a body. Paul tells us we are the body of Christ. And for a body to be effective in being the body that God created it to be, each part must be doing its part. When there are parts that aren't doing their part the body is hindered and handicapped. 

Reason #2: We, as Christians, should be modeling Jesus, who did not come to be served, but who came to serve.

Reason #3: Each of us have gifts and talents that God has given us that are to be used to build his Kingdom. And I think these gifts have a "use it or lose it" thing.

I was reminded of an illustration that illustrates the "use it or lose it" idea. It has to do with the difference between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. Galilee is a lake full of life because it takes in water but also gives it out. In contrast, nothing lives in the Dead Sea because, with no outflow, the lake has stagnated.

We give life and are full of life when we use the gifts that God has given us. When we don't we sort of stagnate. 

So here's the question: When and where and how are you serving, using the gifts that God has given you?

I want to help you find the best place for you to serve. Talk with me. Let's be a fully functional body turning the world upside down.

Hub City is looking for a worship leader

As some of you may have heard, this past Sunday was Josh Roger’s last Sunday as our worship leader. I am very glad that he’s not leaving Hub City, but he does need to step down from leading worship to focus on his full time job. As I've said often, there's not enough time to do everything. Josh is making the wise choice for his health and his family. Josh has been a picture of faithfulness over the past seven years at Hub City. I am so grateful for how he has served and led. I will miss him leading.

With that being said, Hub City is now in search for a part-time worship leader. This is an incredible opportunity. If you or someone you know might be interested please email us at hubcitychurch@gmail.com. We would love to talk with you.

In the meantime, we would appreciate your prayers. Pray for God to bring us the right person.

God for the Rest of Us

I'm really excited about the new teaching series we're starting Sunday at Hub City that we're calling God for the Rest of Us. 

I was inspired to do this series by a book with the same title written by Vince Antonucci. I had the chance to spend a few days with Vince before we launched Hub City and was impressed by his hospitality and humility. I've read everything he's written. I think this may be his best book yet.

It's a book written to both those who aren't Christians yet to illustrate that God is for them, not matter what they've done, and to those of us who are Christians, to remind us that God's not just for us.

Over time we start to think misguided thoughts that Jesus is just for us. But he's not. He's for everyone. This book is a great reminder of that, as well as a great resource that could help us communicate the amazing love of God to a lost, hurting and dying world.

It would be a great book to read as a supplement to this series. I encourage you to get a copy.

A friend of mine asked me if our series was based on Vince's book. He didn't want to come to church for a book report. I don't blame him. I told him that it was "inspired" by the book, and that I'll even use it as one of my resources during the series. 

I'll also use other resources. If you're there on Sunday you'll notice that I'm going to use Dr. Seuss. Later on I'll use a TED Talk. One week I'm going to use Mumford and Sons. I'm even going to use Ashley Madison (the "Life if short, Have and affair" website). 

I like to use all kinds of resources.

But the series is "based" on the God who reveals himself in the Bible as the God who is for the rest of us.

So if you're someone who'd been turned off by church or by Christians, I want you to come and discover the God who is not turned off by you. 

If you're a part of the Hub City Family, do WHATEVER IT TAKES to bring one of your friends, neighbors, or coworkers, to introduce them to God for the rest of us.

Everyone did as they saw fit

I just finished reading through the book of Judges in the Old Testament. If you want to read a weird book of the Bible then read Judges. It shows the downward spiral of the nation of Israel as they fall away from the true God and instead worship man-made idols.

Honestly, it's a pretty depressing book and nowhere is this more evident than in the final verse.

Judges 21:25

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

There was no leadership. No one was giving direction to the Israelites. No one was there to provide any sort of moral or social compass to follow.

So everyone did as they saw fit. Another translation says that "everyone did whatever he wanted."

I think we might all agree that this statement is just as true in our day as it was in the days of the Judges.

But something jumped out at me this morning when I read that verse. See if you notice it: Who were the people who did as they saw fit?

It wasn't the pagan nations that surrounded and lived among the Israelites. It wasn't the Egyptians or the Babylonians or the Caananites or any other of the "ites." 

It was God's chosen people, the Israelites, who did as they saw fit.

That got me thinking about those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus. I fear that we might be just like the Israelites at the end of the book of Judges. 

Isn't this why we church hop? Isn't this why we're so inconsistent in the activities of faith like reading our Bible, participating in corporate worship, or connecting relationally in small groups? Isn't this why we think our interpretation of certain passages is the only right interpretation? Isn't this why we're more "us vs. them" than "us for them?"

At the root of doing as we see fit is a lack of authority over us. We all have authority issues, don't we? We're inherently rebellious. 

But as Christians, submission to authority should be what characterizes us.

First and foremost, we must submit to the authority of Scripture. We're never told we need to like everything the Bible says, or even agree with the way God set things up. But we do need to submit to its authority, even if we don't agree with it.

Second, we need to submit to whatever authority God has placed over us. This could be governmental authority or spiritual authority (like pastors or elders). I know this is tricky, but in our rebellion and disagreements with authority we are being disobedient to the commands of God about this issue.

Finally, we need to submit to one another. Doing as we see fit is self-centered. It's all about us, which is really a problem of pride, or the idolatry of self.

If someone were writing a book about us to go in the Bible (I know that we don't add or take anything away from Scripture, but just imagine), if someone were writing a book about us, how would it end?

Our yard rabbit

We have a new pet around the Everette home. Actually, he's probably been around for a while, but we only started seeing him/her a few weeks ago. He/She is our yard rabbit. 

At first I wanted to shoot him because I thought he was eating my garden. I even told my boys I'd pay them $20 to kill him. But come to find out, some pesky birds were responsible for my garden nibbling.

So now I'm happy to let him live.

And this is a good thing because every time I see him hopping across my yard I pause for a minute because he makes me smile. 

I think the pause is an overlooked spiritual discipline in our busy, non-stop world. 

God is at work, showing off, all around us... and we miss it most of the time.

So maybe we should learn to pause, and during that pause thank God for life, rabbits and whatever else of his extravagant grace you might see.

It's Not About You

My favorite first line of a book comes from Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life. 

It's not about you.

That hurts, doesn't it? 

Most of the time we make life all about us. 

But having an attitude and motivation that is all about us is deadly for our spiritual growth as Christians.

A significant change is supposed to happen as we mature as followers of Jesus. We're supposed to have a shift from being "me-focused" to being "other-focused." A "me-focused" person makes a lot of "I, me and my" statements. 

The Apostle Paul says it this way in Philippians 2:3-4:

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

So, is life all about you? Do you make decisions by thinking of yourself first? 

Most of us wouldn't admit that life is all about us, but don't lie to yourself. Be honest with your motivation. 

I believe that "me-focused" thinking is quite possibly the biggest hinderance for Christians in our day. It's a sign of spiritual immaturity. 

It's not about you.

I'd love your input

I'm thinking of sending this in next week to the paper for my article. I'd love your input/opinion. This is my rough draft.

I'm Sorry

A recurrent teaching around my house is “how you say what you say is just as important as what you say.” I repeatedly tell my boys that you can be right in what you say, but wrong in how you say it. You need to say the right thing in the right way. This involves respect for the person you’re speaking to, tone of voice, tact and kindness.
 Over the past few weeks I’ve been a little embarrassed by my fellow Christian brothers and sisters because of how we’ve said what we’ve said. We mean well, at least most of us do, but we haven’t been all that Christ-like with our words. At times, we’ve been downright jerks. And I want to apologize.
 We’ve let those who disagree with us, issues we feel passionate about and our emotions trump our obedience to the teachings of the Bible.
 We seem to have forgotten that Jesus said we would be known by our love for one another (John 13:34-35). I’m sorry.
 We have ignored the subtleness of being salt and light. Instead, we have been an obnoxious bullhorn (Matthew 5:13-16). I’m sorry.
 We’ve been more focused on making a point than making a difference (1 Peter 2:12). I’m sorry.
 We’ve forgotten Paul’s admonition to not let any unwholesome and unhelpful talk come out of our mouths (Ephesians 4:29). Paul is clear that our speech should be helpful and it should benefit those who listen. We’ve not been helpful or beneficial lately. I’m sorry.
 We unfairly ask, or in some cases demand, that everyone agree with our standards of morality when not everyone has signed up to live according to those standards (1 Peter 3:15). I’m sorry.
 The fact of the matter, which we’ve made painfully obvious over the past few weeks, is that we do have deeply held values and beliefs. Most everybody does. The reason we are so passionate is because we believe the Bible is true and tells us how we are to live as followers of Jesus. Also, we’re taught throughout the Bible that rebellion against God and his standards comes with serious consequences. We can’t and shouldn’t change what we believe. But we can, and should, change how we respond.
 We should know better. Jesus set a great example for us to follow. When Jesus was arrested, falsely accused, beaten and crucified he responded with these words: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
 If you’re not a Christian I can understand why you might not want to become a Christian. That breaks my heart. It’s why I’m saying I’m sorry. Don’t let our shortcomings keep you away from Jesus.

This will not be in Sunday's sermon

I'm preparing for this coming Sunday's sermon on Jesus' parable about the wheat and the weeds. You should read it and show up on Sunday as we talk about it. It's one of Jesus' "Kingdom Parables," stories he told to illustrate the mysteries of the kingdom.

I came across some commentary that I'm not going to include in my sermon, but that's too good to keep to myself. Enjoy:

The parable of the wild wheat is unique to Matthew (cf. Matt. 36-43). Here is an interesting paragraph from New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (NIDOTTE), vol. 1, p. 299. 

"The idea of the invisible church is found in Augustine, City of God; Wycliffe, De ecclesia; Luther, Preface to Revelation; Calvin, Institutes IV 1 7; and many other writers (see edition of Calvin's Institutes, ed. J. T. McNeill, 1960, II 1022). The thought that is uppermost is not to minimize the importance of church membership, but to recognize the possibility of hypocrisy and deceit. In the last analysis, those who belong to God are visible to God alone. Membership of the true church is a fact which is not visible to man. The idea recalls the statement of 2 Tim. 2:19; 'The Lord knows who are his.' It extends to the church what Paul says of Israel, that they are not all Israel who belong to Israel, but only 'the children of promise' (Rom. 9:6 f.). It recognizes the danger, which church members are warned against, of reaping corruption through sowing to the flesh (Gal. 3:7; cf. Rom. 8:12 f.). Paul recognized the need for discipline in his own life lest he should become a castaway (1 Cor. 10:27; cf. Phil. 2:12, 19). The possibility of church members falling away is one of great themes of Hebrews (cf. Heb. 2:3; 3:7-4:14; 6:1-12; 10:26-39; 12:12-28). It is also suggested by the parables of the weeds (Matt. 13:24-43) and the sheep and goats (Matt. 25:31-46) and the example of Judas (Matt. 10:4; 26:14, 25, 47 ff.; 27:3; Mk. 14:10, 43; Lk. 6:16; 22:3, 47; Jn. 13:2; 17:12; 18:22 ff.; Acts 1:17 ff., 25)." 

These warnings do not jeopardize security, but give a balance to excessive confidence in an initial decision and ignores the mandate of discipleship and perseverance.

I put the last sentence in bold because for too long in the American church we've put "excessive confidence in an initial decision" to follow Jesus. But following Jesus is more than praying a prayer. It's about following him for a lifetime. 

Hope that inspires some thought on this Monday morning.

Let's all get circumcised...

I've always said that Genesis is one of the "R" Rated books of the Bible. This morning I was reading out of chapter 34 and it's a bit sketchy.

You should read the chapter for yourself, but in the meantime, here's the summary: Jacob's daughter Dinah is raped by a man named Shechem. He then wants to marry her so he gets his dad to go to her dad to work out the marriage details. Dinah's brothers get involved and come up with the price of the marriage, which is really just an attempt to get revenge on Shechem for defiling their sister. The price is that every man, not just Shechem, but every man in their village/area had to be circumcised. Surprisingly, Shechem, his dad, and the men all agreed to this price.

Now let me ask you: What kind of influence would you have to have to talk all the men of an entire village into circumcising themselves?

During their "recovery" time, Dinah's brothers came in and killed all of the newly circumcised men and plundered the village it get vengeance for their sister.

It was greed that motivated these men to undergo an embarrassing and painful surgical procedure to a very private body part... the lengths we'll go to for power and money.

I would like to think I would have opted out of this deal, but this got me wondering: Who is influencing me? What voices am I listening to? Who am I allowing to speak into my life? 

In Proverbs 13:20 Solomon writes, "He who walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm." 

All of us are listening to somebody and something. Most of us don't even realize the influence those voices are having on our lives. 

Be careful who you listen to. Walk with the wise. 

I think I need to share this story with my boys tonight. Male body parts are common topics at our dinner table. Now I have a story with a male body part to leverage for good.

My shower epiphany

I had an epiphany this morning in the shower.

I've been reading Eugene Peterson's book, The Pastor, which is his memoir about becoming and being a pastor. He begins the book by looking at how his upbringing shaped him into a pastor. Reading his story got me thinking about mine.

I grew up an Army brat. Maybe it's because I didn't know better, but I loved moving around, living everywhere from California to Germany. Moving 10 times before I turned 18 shaped me in ways that I won't get into here.

My epiphany had to do with attending military chapels. When we lived in Germany we really only had two churches to choose from: The Catholic Mass, or the Protestant service. They shared the same building. My parents were from Baptist and Presbyterian backgrounds so we really only had one choice.

Each Sunday we would worship with people who were different from us, but who had one thing in common: We were Christians who were trying to love and follow Jesus. We didn't agree with everything. Sometimes we had good chaplains. Sometimes we had not-so-good chaplains. But we figured out how to get along. We worshiped Jesus, even if the worship style was a bit uncomfortable. We focused on what we had in common more than what we disagreed about. Everybody tried to do their part to make the chapel a church.

We live a church culture in America that's defined by choice. Consumerism has infected the church so deeply that we think choice is normal. This is a topic for another day, but I think consumerism is going to eventually kill the church in America. It's a disease.

The way church feeds our consumerism is not only by offering all kinds of ministries to meet people's needs, but by changing how we, as Christians, think about church. Now we think we need certain things: A certain worship style, a certain Bible translation/interpretation, a children's ministry, a youth ministry, a women's ministry, a men's ministry, a Christian pre-school/school, a young-at-heart ministry, a ministry to goats, a ministry to (fill in the blank).

Be honest with yourself: How many of you think you need a children's ministry for your kids? How many of you think you need a youth ministry for your teens? How many of you think you need some form of religious goods and services that the church provides for you? 

It's not that those ministries are bad, but do we need them? None of them were available during the first century. Most of them aren't available in most churches around the world. Heck, America is really the only country where "choice" is even an option.

It's ironic that in our land of choice and options that the church is shrinking, but in places where choice isn't even a thought, the church is growing.

My epiphany was that my lack of choice in church in my formative years contributes to my anti-consumeristic approach to church today. It's one reason Hub City doesn't offer what other churches offer. It's why I'm so angered by church-hopping. It's why I'm becoming more and more anti-church-growth (even thought I desperately want to see Jesus grow His Church).

I've heard and I know that we need to swim in the culture we're in. But what if that culture is taking us somewhere we don't need to go? What if Jesus is calling us to a counter-cultural way of living and being church and doing church where consumerism doesn't have a place at the table?

Maybe then we'd focus on loving one another, making disciples and building the kingdom. Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing anyway?

Intimacy with God

One of the major reasons Hub City Church is doing a seven week series on Prayer and Fasting has to do with my number one desire for people. More than anything I want people to have an active, growing and intimate relationship with God. 

Prayer and fasting are essential to that intimacy.

Mark Batterson, in his 40 day prayer challenge, Draw the Circle, says this:

The reason most people don't feel intimacy with God is because they don't have a daily prayer rhythm. They may have a weekly rhythm of going to church, which is wonderful, but doing so in and of itself won't produce intimacy with God. Can you imagine talking with your spouse or child once a week? God wants a day-by-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute relationship with you.

I want everyone to have that kind of relationship with God. So how's your daily prayer rhythm?

This past Sunday I said that the only way we learn to pray is to actually pray. Dive in. Start talking with God.

An intimate relationship with your creator is at stake, and there's nothing greater than that.

On the Physical Death of Jesus

This is what's called "Holy Week" on the Christian calendar. It's the most important week of the year for Christians. It's even more important than Christmas.

What's the big deal about this week?

We remember and celebrate Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. 

Christians believe that if it weren't for the death of Jesus we would all be dead in our sin and separated from the possibility of having a right and restored relationship with God. If it weren't for Jesus' resurrection, the fact that he rose from the dead, then our faith would be useless.

This week is all about those two pivotal events.

As I was preparing for this week's sermon (which you can listen to if you come to Spartan 16 Movie Theater on Sunday at 10 AM... shameless invite, I know), I came across a fascinating article that was published in 1986 in the Journal of the American Medical Association titled, “One the Physical Death of Jesus.” 

It's worth your time. I'm going to use some of it on Sunday, but you owe it to yourself to read the whole thing, even if your not a Christian.
 

Never put a period where God puts a comma

A few weeks ago I heard Mark Batterson say something that I had to rewind and listen to again and again. I'm still letting it sink in. It was both encouraging and challenging. I immediately wrote it down and am using it at the end of my sermon on Sunday, but thought I'd share it ahead of time. May it encourage and challenge you as well, especially those of you who are going through a tough time.

Never put a comma where God puts a period and never put a period where God puts a comma. All of us hit spots in our life when we think our life is over. But it’s not over. Oswald Chambers said, “Sometimes it looks like God is missing the mark because we’re too short sighted to see what he’s aiming for.” Before God adds he usually subtracts. Before God multiplies he usually prunes. Before God brings something to life, something usually dies. There’s a tendency to hit the panic button when God subtracts, when there’s a pruning in your life, when something is dying. But it may be that God is getting ready to do something in your life that you haven’t seen before. – Mark Batterson

For those of you in the Sparkle City vicinity, join us at Hub City this Sunday, 10 AM. Spartan 16 Movie Theater. For you out-of-towners, feel free to listen online next week. 

Attitude is everything in marriage

I'm reading a fun and practical book on marriage called Creating an Intimate Marriage by Jim Burns. If you are married I strongly suggest you clicking on the link and buying/downloading this book. 

Today I read a chapter called Attitude is Everything.

We know attitude is everything, but we sometimes forget how important attitude is in a healthy marriage. Jim shares five important attitude adjustments that are too good for me to keep to myself. I hope these help you in your pursuit of intimacy.

1. Stop Complaining. Philippians 2:14 says, "Do all things without complaining and disputing." Complaining is negative. It shuts down intimacy. Cut out the complaining.
2. Show Gratitude: Paul writes for us to "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Happily married couples aren't happy because of their bank account, physique, or the fact that they never have arguments. What they do have is an attitude of gratefulness for their spouse. Make gratitude a daily habit.
3. Practice the Golden Rule. Jesus says in Matthew 7:12, "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you." Show appreciation, honor, respect and love to your spouse even if he or she doesn't immediately reciprocate that kindness.
4. Control the "If Only's." James says to "Let your 'yes' be less and your 'no,' no (James 5:12). This involves misplaced expectations where you expect your spouse to be the one to make you happy. Don't expect the other person to be your solution. 
5. Choose Fun and Optimism. Fun and optimism can change a marriage for the better. Small pleasures make for strong marriages.

Attitude is everything. Put these attitude adjustments into practice today. You can choose your attitude. Choose wisely. 

When Life Hurts

One of the few things every human being who has ever walked on this planet have in common is that sometimes life hurts.

Hurt does not discriminate. Rich or poor, first world or third world, black or white, we all suffer at times. 

While the degree of suffering may be greater for some than others, we all experience hurt.

I know a lot of people who are hurting right now. Walking with them in their pain got me thinking about all the Bible has to say about suffering which led to what we’re going to talk about at Hub City Church for the next four weeks.

We’re not going to address every Bible passage that has to do with suffering. That would take over a year. We are going to talk about four things that will hopefully give us a more complete and healthier theology of suffering.

If you are looking for a church family then I invite you to join us at Spartan 16 Movie Theater this Sunday for week 1 of When Life Hurts.  If you’re out of town or already a part of another church, but this topic intrigues you, then I invite you to listen online.

For those of you who are a part of the Hub City Church family: Don't miss the next four weeks. I believe God is going to meet with us. Do whatever it takes to be there and invite someone who is hurting to come with you.

There are too many of you

I love the Old Testament story of Gideon. You can read his story in Judges 6 - 7. 

I love that Gideon is this insecure, unqualified, oppressed, reject that God uses to deliver his people. God has this thing for using those nobody else would use.

I love the counter-cultural way God uses Gideon to defeat the Midianites. Gideon starts off with an army of 22,000 men. God tells him there are too many men, so he should let all those who are afraid go home. 12,000 leave. God then says there are still too many men and devises the infamous water-lapping test to whittle the army down to a whopping 300 men. And with 300 men, God defeats the mighty Midianite army.

We live in a culture that tells us bigger is better. Sometimes it is.

But the story of Gideon teaches us that sometimes smaller is better too. This is highly counter-cultural in our day. 

God used a puny army of 300 to defeat one of the greatest armies in the world. He did it so that neither the Israelites nor Gideon would receive glory. 

He did it so that God and God alone would receive glory.

Gideon's story is an encouragement to me today. May it encourage you, and my we all live lives for God's glory and not our own.

A piece of marriage advice

Yesterday we finished up a short series on Marriage at Hub City. The goal was to go back to a few basic and foundational principles that many of us know, but all of us need to be reminded of regularly.

I thought I'd wrap things up with offering one final piece of a marriage advice. Personally, I think this is the most important thing in a marriage after having a growing relationship with God through Jesus.

Prioritize your spouse above everything but Jesus.

What do I mean by everything? Everything.

Your spouse should take priority over your kids, your job, your hobbies, and even yourself.

This is what God is telling us when he says that a husband will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife. We forsake all for the sake of putting our spouse first.

Many people have a problem with that. Maybe that's why so many marriages either don't make it or they don't achieve the intimacy that could be achieved.

So, if you're married, how can you prioritize your spouse this week? 

It take work. It's countercultural. It's hard. 

But it's worth it.

Mostly we prayed for...

What do we mostly pray for?

Prayer has been on my mind a lot lately. I'm reading a lot on prayer. I'm learning a lot about prayer. I'm burdened that Hub City become a praying church. 

I want to share something I read last week. It came our of James MacDonald's book, Vertical Church. In talking about persistent prayer he says:

Mostly we prayed for God to come in power and make our weekend service a place of supernatural outpouring. We prayed that God would be heard in the preaching, that worship would be a fervent and heartfelt adoration of Jesus’ worthy name, that people would be saved, prodigals would come home, and families’ hearts would turn back to the Lord and to each other. The question is not will God answer our prayers, but do we have faith to petition Him persistently?

This resonates with me. It has become a prayer of mine over the past seven days. Maybe it can inform and deepen your prayers for the church as well.

What might happened if we prayed like this more for the church? Stay tuned for some ways we're going to incorporate more prayer into the life of Hub City Church.

What inspires me

I learned something about myself today. Reading good writing inspires me to write. When I read good writing I want to be like those authors. They use words like a great chef uses food. I don’t just read their books. I savor them.

The opposite is also true. Poor writing is uninspiring. Actually, it’s worse. It gives me permission to take short cuts and do half-hearted work.

I’ve read a few great books lately. The Giver series by Lois Lowery is so well written I was depressed when I got to the end of the series. I started Donald Miller’s new book, Scary Close, today. Don is a great writer. His Million Miles in a Thousand Years still ranks as one of the best books I’ve had the privilege to read.

Unfortunately, I’ve also read a few poorly written books lately. I’ll let those popular, yet poorly written works, remain unnamed. I quit reading some of them. And it wasn’t because they had a bad story. The writing wasn’t good, and they couldn’t hold my attention.

Like I said, reading good writing inspires me to write. Hearing good public speaking inspires me to speak better. Learning something new inspires me to share that knowledge.

I don’t know if you ever know what you want to be when you grow up. Life is more like a Polaroid that becomes more focused over time. At least that has been my experience. Things that inspire me give me clarity on who God made me to be.

All of this has me wondering something about you.

What inspires you? Or better yet, what inspires you to do what you were created to do and be who you were created to be?

Why not spend your time there? Why waste your time on things that aren’t helpful?

I want your Polaroid to come into focus.

I also want you to read something good.